GREENPEACE volunteers and shoppers in Hereford have been handing items of single-use plastic packaging back at tills in supermarkets.

The shoppers have also handed cashiers notes to give to store managers calling for action to reduce excessive throwaway packaging.

Greenpeace said single-use plastic packaging is a major contributor to the plastic pollution that is having a devastating impact on oceans, and UK supermarkets generate more than 800,000 tonnes of plastic packaging waste every year.

Shoppers were encouraged to remove unnecessary plastic packaging from items they had purchased and leave it at the checkout, handing responsibility for its disposal back to the company selling it.